I once heard the Civil War described as a 19th century war fought with 20th century weapons and using 18th century tactics. The Prussians learned a lot by observing our Civil War, and then used that knowledge to win the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War. ....and after all of that, the Brits and French (and Germany cavalry) still used mid-19th century tactics to destroy millions of their own troops.
I’ve read that casualties suffered by the forces of the Confederate States in the Civil War were proportionately comparable to those suffered by the major European combatants in WW I. The North lost similar numbers, but its population was much larger.
My interest in military history began with Patton, and your short post helps me understand the cultural and academic barriers Patton had to overcome in trying to introduce tank doctrine in the US Army.
Patton designed the last military sabre for calvary officers, I beieve, as a Calvary Lt. Colonel as late as 1930 or so. I was so struck by that.
Even more impressive is his integration of air and ground attack, where the officers actually involved in the air phase were able to essentially dictate to Patton when to attack.
Thanks for the observation, and I echo someone else’s comment on the thread that this would be much better done with cigars and cognac, or a good bourbon, in comfortable leather armchairs.